Lazy gardeners argue about compost. Some insist nothing can take the place of a shovelful of compost mixed in planting holes for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and members of the cabbage family. Melons, cucumbers, and squash need its richness to send out strong, healthy vines. Read the rest of this entry »

For a lazy gardener’s attack against root knot nematodes (most prevalent in the South), plant lots of French marigolds, whose roots exude a repellent, and keep the soil extra high in organic matter. Beneficial fungi that grow in decomposing humus keep these pests under control.

Hill earth over carrots to prevent a pesky fly from laying eggs in the top of the carrot root. Read the rest of this entry »

A successful landscape needs a garden style which appeals to you, and this is often linked to the house design. It can also be influenced by the kind of plants you like, or by your garden site and its climate.

Garden styles

There is a variety of garden styles, from formal to cottage garden, each with its own atmosphere and character. A predominantly natural or wild garden might look best in the country, or, alternatively, it could turn a town garden into a green oasis and bird sanctuary. A Mediterranean courtyard style would suit a small garden or echo Spanish-style architecture. You may like a formal garden for its symmetry, or an oriental garden for its serenity. Read the rest of this entry »

Lazy gardeners are willing to let a few bugs eat. “I simply plant too much,” says one gardener. “I give my crops rich soil and let them fend for themselves. There are all kinds of bugs, and I don’t have time to fool with them, so if they eat half my chard, I eat the other half.”

“Most gardeners panic when they see one bug eating,” says another gardener, who chides the “spray-happy people who rain destruction on a whole garden for one squash bug. I usually let them eat, and spray only when a crop is really threatened. ” Insect pests will eventually come into balance with their natural enemies, he suggests. Read the rest of this entry »

Pine Origins

There are many different types of pine tree. Pinus sylvestris, one of the varieties used to produce essential oil, grows widely throughout Europe and the USSR, the main distillation centres being in Austria and the USSR.

Pine Essential oil

Steam distillation of pine needles produces a colourless oil with a strong odour reminiscent of balsam.

Pine Most common uses

Powerful antiseptic for the respiratory tract in cases of colds, influenza, pneumonia, asthma, sinusitis, bronchitis and laryngitis Read the rest of this entry »

Marjoram Origins

This is a small plant found in the eastern Mediterranean countries, southern Europe and north Africa.

Marjoram Essential oil

Steam distillation of the flowers and leaves produces an oil that ranges in colour from pale yellow to rich amber. It has a warm, spicy aroma.

Marjoram Most common uses

• calms and regulates the nervous system
• good for insomnia, depression and anxiety
• relieves aching limbs and rheumatic conditions
• helps nervous stomach and digestion Read the rest of this entry »

Summer workers in your nitrogen factory

Amount per 1,000 sq. ft. … 10 lbs. Approximate cost/lb. … $1-$2.

Varieties: your favorite green or yellow bush varieties, such as Contender, Eastern Butterwax, etc. Or shell beans such as French Horticultural, or lima beans (seeds are slightly more expensive). In South: plant favorite Southern peas.

Best time to plant: anytime after last spring frost and up to 8 weeks before expected first fall frost. Read the rest of this entry »

Beans have been the most important vegetable crop through the ages. They are the best vegetable source of life-giving protein, and today in many societies, beans are still the staple of life. Beans are also the one protein source you can keep for a long time without processing. And you can get a heavy harvest from a small amount of work.

Our family relied on dry beans when Iwas young. Every Saturday night (if not more often), the heart of our family meal, like the traditional New England Saturday supper, was baked beans. Read the rest of this entry »

Snap beans are the first beans to give me a harvest, about 45 days after they come up. I plant them early and often to get a continuous supply of fresh, tender pods. From early summer to the first fall frost, snap beans are ready to pick in my garden. I plant them every 2 weeks until about 8 weeks before the average first fall frost date. Snap beans are a good succession crop because they are so easy to plant and they sprout quickly in warm soil. When my spinach starts to go to seed in early summer, I till it under and plant a wide row of beans on the same day. A couple of weeks later when some of my early peas are finished, I till them in and plant another row of snap beans. Read the rest of this entry »

Lima beans, horticultural beans, and blackeye peas are my favorite shell beans. I pick them when the beans inside have formed but are still soft and tender. They can grow to the dry stage, but if you let them do that, you’ll miss out on an early harvest and some very good eating.

Lima beans need 11 or 12 weeks of frost-free weather

To know the real taste of lima beans, you must eat them fresh from a home garden. There’s no comparison between fresh and store-bought. Succotash, that terrific blend of fresh corn, milk, butter, and limas, isn’t worth a hoot without fresh lima beans. Read the rest of this entry »

Five ways to cultivate the soil

Digging is usually necessary to incorporate bulky organic materials, relieve compaction, improve drainage, improve soil texture and control growth of weeds.

• Single digging Type of digging in which the soil is cultivated to the depth of the spade blade. The most widely practised form of digging, adequate for most ordinary soils of reasonable depth which do not overlay an intractable subsoil. First, take out a trench one blade deep, then fill this in using adjacent soil, turning each spadeful upsidedown as you do. As you move in this way across the areas of ground, the trench moves with you. Soil from the first trench is used to fill the final one at the other end of the plot.
• Double digging Digging soil to two depths of the spade. Especially useful on land which has not been cultivated before or where a hard subsoil layer is impeding drainage and the penetration of plant roots. Read the rest of this entry »

In tubs, urns, window boxes or hanging baskets, the following plants will make a colourful show all summer and into autumn. Grow in a good potting compost either loam-based or a peat-based type.

• Floss flower (Ageratum houstonianum) Very popular half- hardy annual, useful for edging. Blue, pink or white powder- puff flowers freely produced, especially if you trim off dead blooms. 15cm/6in. Moist soil, sun.
• Geranium, ivy-leaf (Pelargonium peltatum) A classic container plant. Half-hardy perennial treated as an annual. Ivy-shaped leaves on trailing stems, producing a cascade of pink, red or white flowers well into autumn. 60cm/2ft. Easy to grow; feed well, plenty of sun. Read the rest of this entry »

Three bulbs and corms for growing in grass

Grassy areas can be made colourful by planting bulbs andcorms, perhaps around the bases of trees or on banks. Do not cut the grass until at least 9 weeks after the flowers have faded, or there will be few or no flowers next year.

• Crocus, large-flowered Dutch Large, goblet-shaped flower in shades of yellow, purples, blue or white in spring. 10— 15cm/4-9in. Full sun needed for blooms to open.
• Crocus, autumn-flowering (Crocus speciosus) Lilac flowers in autumn, leaves following in spring. 10cm/4in. Full sun and well-drained soil.
• Daffodil, miniature (Narcissus bulbocodium and N. cyclamineus) Yellow flared and trumpet-shaped miniature flowers respectively, in spring. 15cm/9in. Moist soil, and sun or partial shade. Plant generously in drifts. Read the rest of this entry »

Vegetables grown at home and used immediately after gathering have a much better flavour than those bought in the shops. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to have a large garden. Various small vegetables do well in containers on a patio, or in patches in a flowerbed or border. There are several vegetables, too, for the greenhouse, and even for growing in partial shade. It is possible to have an all- round supply: many people especially appreciate fresh produce in the depths of winter.

As an alternative to the traditional method of arranging vegetables in rows, the “deep-bed” system allows you to grow more crops in the space available, because the plants are closer together. The crops are grown in blocks or bands across the I.2m/4ft wide beds, which are separated by 30-45cm/12-18in wide paths, from which you work at all times, except when digging. Initially you should prepare the beds by double-digging (see p36) and adding plenty of manure or garden compost. Repeat the double-digging every3-4 years: in the intervening years, use normal single digging. Rotate crops to get the best from the soil. Read the rest of this entry »

Most herbs are easy to grow. The following selection provides a variety of flavours to complement home-grown vegetables and enhance everyday food. Site the herb patch in a sunny well-drained spot near the kitchen. Some of these herbs will also grow well in containers.

• Angelica (Angelica archangelica) Aromatic leaves have various uses; stems are candied and used in cake decoration. Biennial grown from seed. 180cm/6ft tall. Sown outdoors in late summer, under a cloche in cold areas. Transplant to 30cm/12in apart the following spring. Remove flower heads. Read the rest of this entry »

Verbena is an old-fashioned cottage garden plant that is making something of a comeback. It is really a perennial but is best treated as an annual; the new hybrids have dense heads of pink, white and purple flowers that still retain their scent. Take out the growing shoots to encourage bushiness and dead-head regularly. Verbena is usually sold in boxes of mixed colours and these mixtures are particularly attractive. It reaches a height of up to 10 inches.

Gazania is another perennial most commonly grown as an annual. G. x hybrida at 9 inches has dark green foliage with a grey underside; the daisy flowers are in the yellow, orange, bronze range though you can also have some deep pinks. They like full sun. Read the rest of this entry »

High summer, when everything in the garden is blooming and burgeoning in competition, is the time when window boxes should be planted very boldly. Colours in the summer must be bright to compete with the sun or perhaps make up for the lack of it.

Red geraniums and dark blue trailing lobelia are something of a horticultural cliché but for effect against stone or stucco they can hardly be bettered. As a change from the red geranium—like ‘Sprinter’, which is massed outside Buckingham Palace every year—you can have ‘Cherie’, which has soft salmon pink flowers and deeply zoned leaves, or ‘Ringo Salmon’, which is almost orange, or ‘Rose Marie’, a really intense pink. If your house is built of brick avoid all the colours and choose white, either ‘White Orbit’ or ‘Iceberg’, which will look asking if they would like them. Few would be so stunning. In fact when choosing geraniums thechurlish as to refuse, and most would be delighted to golden rule is to shop around because newer, moreexciting colours are introduced every season. When you have found a geranium in a shade you like, mass it for maximum effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Window boxes are often impulse acquisitions. You are halted in your tracks by a wonderful display of bedding plants and there is nothing for it, you must have some. No garden? Never mind, there is room for a few window boxes….

Such impulses can be the beginning of a long and enjoyable acquaintanceship with window box gardening. They can also be the reason behind the starved and unhappy specimens you sometimes see as the summer draws on, the unwanted kittens of window box gardening that you cannot give away and that certainly don’t seem destined for a death by drowning. If your first boxes are impulse buys, or if you know only too well that you are one of those people whose early enthusiasm is liable to wane, then hold your horses for a moment and plan. Read the rest of this entry »

In the days when half an acre was regarded as a small garden the idea of growing vegetables in window boxes would have been a huge joke. Today, with our smaller plots and smaller families, the idea is not so laughable. Seedsmen, too, have been working for us to produce dwarfer, tidier plants that can be accommodated in boxes, tubs and other containers. There are, too, the ubiquitous growing bags so that anyone with a fancy for home-grown beans or peppers or tomatoes or other salad crops can easily indulge this. All right, you will hardly have surplusfor freezing but you should be able to enjoy good early pickings. And what a triumph, to be able to serve French beans with a real snap to them, freshly picked from your own window sill. French beans, especially the dwarf varieties that need no staking, are a vegetable particularly suited to container growing. Read the rest of this entry »

technikon pretoria

The Technician Pretoria has one of the largest campuses in the country, and sports the colours red, yellow and black. ‘Technician Pretoria’ combines yellow with red, leaving black to the imagination. Firm, triangular buds of deep yellow expand as they develop, and as soon as the unfolding and reflexing petals are exposed to the sun, they turn bright red. As more petals unfold and overlap, the subtle play between these two colours is extraordinary. The bushes are very compact for a Hybrid Tea and retain a neat shape. Nevertheless, each large bloom is carried on a moderately long, sturdy stem decorated with large, deep-green leaves. New flowering stems appear at short intervals from early spring into winter. This healthy rose is superb for planting at the front of beds and in pots.

The lady

‘The Lady’ not only produces medium-sized, slender, long buds, but also tough foliage and a willingness to perform unperturbed during storm and sunshine. The colour is an unusual blend of yellow and pink. A tall-growing rose worth trying in your garden. It won the silver medal in the Durbanville Rose Trials in 1993. Read the rest of this entry »